Posted: Apr 19, 2021 4:00 AM CT | Last Updated: April 19
Pimicikamak, also known as Cross Lake Cree Nation, doled out extra vaccine doses to hundreds outside the community last week.(Evan Mitsui/CBC)
In Thompson, Man., almost every teacher is now at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19 after a nearby First Nation shared hundreds of extra doses with people outside the community last week.
Educators and front-line workers, including police officers, were among those surprised with a chance to get immunized when Pimicikamak, also known as Cross Lake Cree Nation, ran a four-day vaccine clinic to dole out a stockpile of extra doses, Chief David Monias said.
There have been 13 cases of COVID-19 among people linked to schools in Thompson in the last two weeks up to April 13, not including this latest case at Wapanohk, according to provincial data online. These include nine cases at R.D. Parker Collegiate, three at Deerwood School and one at Westwood School. None of these school-linked cases involve COVID variants of concern and the virus wasn’t necessarily contracted while at school. Other Northern Manitoba COVID cases linked to schools in the last two weeks include one case at Frontier Collegiate in Cranberry Portage, six cases at three schools in Flin Flon and one case in The Pas, which is the first Northern Manitoba COVID case involving a variant of concern.
Across Manitoba there were 62 new cases, including 33 in Winnipeg, four in the Prairie Mountain health region and one each in the southern and Interlake-Eastern health regions. 140 Manitobans are in hospital due to the virus, 66 of them with active infections. Fourteen of those with active infections are in intensive care as are 16 people who are no longer considered infectious. There are 29 northerners in hospital due to COVID, 22 of whom have active infections. Six of those 22 are in intensive care, as are three other northern residents who are no longer considered infectious. Two new deaths were announced on Tuesday, making the total since the pandemic began 942. The five-day test positivity rate is 5.3 per cent provincially.
Public health has confirmed that there is a second positive case of COVID-19 in the Snow Lake area and it is linked to the first case. The second confirmed case is a Hudbay employee who was not symptomatic while at work and both individuals are currently self-isolating, reads an Oct. 22 statement from Hudbay and the Town of Snow Lake. Two new cases each have been reported in the The Pas/OCN/Kelsey health district, with another two cases found in the Thompson/Mystery Lake district and another two cases marked as unknown district. Thompson has now reported 25 cases of COVID-19 - 12 of those cases are still active, while the remaining 13 are now considered recovered. There are currently 45 active cases of COVID-19 in northern Manitoba.
Thompson Families can now document the memories they made at home during the COVID-19 pandemic using time capsules offered for free by Kiddies Northern Preschool. The time capsule allows families to reflect on their 2020 and how the year has affected them in regards to connections and celebrations. All families in Thompson are eligible to receive the time capsule kits consisting of a notebook, pencils, crayons and a glue stick. “Knowing that families need to stay at home, I believe a lot of families are running out of ideas. This is an opportunity for them to do something outside their regular activities,” said Lynn Martin, the Director of Kiddies Northern Preschool on Wednesday.